Tuesday, June 30, 2009

Klerksdorp will host North West League 3 on the 19th July, starting 09h00am sharp. Entry fee R50.00 per pilot, braai fires will be lit at 12h00 please bring own food and refreshments. The field will be available on Saturday for practice.

Friday, June 26, 2009

Congratulations to Team SA for finishing second in the World Jet Masters in Israel. The competition ended today.

The team consisting of Glen Roberts, Francios Diedrechsen, Mark Savage and Marthinus Potgieter ended second in the team contest. Glen Roberts ended second in the individual class as well,. He had the second highest static score with his scratch built Vampire. Mark and Marthinus also did very well in static. Unfortunately Marthinus did not have a complete flight in any of his three rounds with flames outs in every flight. Mark had a no start and Glen also a flame out in one round. Francios had a retract pipe burst which messed up his second flight(and the bottom of the aircraft).

Saturday, June 13, 2009

Here are some pictures, and captions. Great news with Alan Smith winning the FAI Silver Medal.

Thirteen pilots competed in 11 gruelling rounds, and eight of them progressed to the finals. One-by-one, the great names failed to stretch their flight times, and were eliminated, until only two remained standing: Massimiliano Sacchi (Italy), and Alan Smith (South Africa). At 20:00 on Friday 12th June , when the chances of finding lift were very slim, the two finalists launched. Sacchi found the conditions more favourable and Alan missed the max by a mere 20 seconds.

This achievement must surely be the highlight of South Africa's aeromodelling activities for many years, and will hopefully inspire others to greater heights too.

Best regardsBob

Part of the crowd before the start of the Aeromusicals in the circular stadium of Palaruffini. Has seating capacity of 4000, and on the last night, the event was attended by about 800 spectators. Electronic score board displayed the results within a minute of completion of the flights.

The citizens of Turin and participants in other airsports at the World Air Games, are being treated to an unrivalled spectacle in the indoor arena at Palaruffini. The aeromodelling commission of the FAI (CIAM) has developed a set of rules to promote the very exciting and affordable sport, of building and flying indoor model aircraft. With this edition of the World Air Games, the FAI now has a marketable product, and already there is interest in the Far East for similar events, coupled with major cultural and financial meetings.

The concept of combining flying models with accompanying music and other show effects, has huge potential for creating awareness for aeromodelling, and aviation in general. The potential for media exposure is greatly enhanced, since the results are almost instantaneous. Spectators are able to sit in relative comfort and be entertained. Without lengthy explanations, they are able to judge the relative performances, with simple judging criteria like technique (precision, versatility) and artistic quality (synchronisation with music, continuous flow).

Young French pilot Fabian Turpaud is leading the field, followed closely by Lithuanian ace Donatas Pauzuolis. The variable pitch propeller on the aircraft used by Martin Mueller, allows him to perform spectacular reverse-direction manoeuvres, defying the known laws of aerodynamics. Without exception, the younger pilots from Italy, Czech Republic, the Netherlands, and Hungary, are all performing with great skill, and lightning-fast reflexes. The music choice is from a wide variety of genres, ranging from techno pop to classical and opera. The secret of course, is to effectively combine the flight performance with several pieces of music, using the tempo and mood.

To provide more entertainment for the spectators, there are performances of synchronised flying; Martin Mueller and wife Stephanie Schwan (yes, a sophisticated young lady that will put many of the boys to shame, with her flying skills); and Bert and Derk van der Vecht also with formation flying. The entertainment highlight was a magnificent flying dragon, with glowing eyes, and the ability to shake its head to communicate with its “master”. A few students have a formation routine by several MB339 aircraft of the Italian air force aerobatic team, the Frecce Tricolori. Then there are airships, a flying Ferrari race car, and hand-thrown gliders.

It really is time that those interested in indoor activities in South Africa, who have not yet experienced the thrill of indoor aeromodelling, start in earnest to focus their activities. It’s all good and well to have regular meetings, and the potential is there to steer this energy in a more structured direction. The participants and officials of the other airsports at the WAG are unanimous in their opinion that aeromodelling has successfully developed events that are attractive to the media, and that can be marketed as a product to potential sponsors. In FAI President, Pierre Portman’s words: “You guys are leading the way”

Wednesday, June 10, 2009

I'm currently in Turin for the World Air Games (6-14 June), where a few South Africans are participating and officiating. John Gaillard, Quinton Hawthorne and Lazslo are involved in full-size aerobatics judging, I'm a juror for the aeromodelling events, and I know of two parachutists representing South Africa.

Apart from this, the only other South African participation is by Stephane Duponsel, Alan Smith, and Mark Stockton, in the hand-throw glider event. The first two tasks were completed yesterday (5-minute flight as task one, and three 3-minute flights for task two).

It is a real pity that our talented aeromodellers did not make any effort to have selection events for Artistic Aerobatics (outdoor) and Aeromusicals (Indoor). The indoor event (two rounds to date) has been nothing short of spectacular, with nine competitors from eight nations battling it out to impress the judges,m and wow the sizeable crowd. Many participants in the other airsports were in awe of the performances. If only we had the likes of Christopher Harris, who recently participated in the ETOC (Electric Tournament of Champions) in the USA, competing, at least the South African presence would have been reinforced.

We have to start now, to circulate the rules, create interest, and arrange for selection events, to be ready for the next WAG (probably in Russia, but the bidding process is on the go right now), and the 2013 WAG is likely to be in Korea. This is the flagship event of the FAI, where all the airsports have an oppertunity to showcase their events to the world. Aeromodelling is leading the field with new and exciting classes, that are spectator and media friendly. All the in-country costs are paid by the Local Organising Committee, which certainly makes it affordable for athletes to attend.

Today (Wednesday) is the third and fourth tasks of the hand-throw gliders, and all three SA participants have the potential to reach the finals.

Friday, June 05, 2009

Dominic from Ellipsis sent me a link to the general notice in the Government Gazette number 926 of 2008 dealing with the electronic communications act. This deals with equipment that " ...shall not require a radio frequency spectrum licence".

If anyone is interested I can forward to them a copy of his note.

However, note 2 (a) on page 17 states: " All radio apparatus must be type-approved by the Authority in accordance with section 35 of the Act". Thus operating a non type-approved set would be illegal.

I have yet to get a clear statement from the SAMAA management committee but my personal view is that in terms of clause 4,1 the SAMAA insurance policy will not cover illegal operation.

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